History

HOYA Corporation has diversified its operations by capitalizing on the potential of optoelectronic technologies since its establishment in 1941 as Japan's first specialty manufacturer of optical glass. Today, Hoya is making a new start as an "electro-optics" company seeking to create new value through its optical and electronic technologies. To this end, the Company is developing its operations in four dimensions–Electro-Optics,Vision Care, Crystal, and Medical and Service. At the same time, Hoya is striving to build a global manufacturing and marketing network that will allow the Company to expand its international operations to the same size as its domestic operations by the start of the 21st century. Our ultimate aim is to become a "high-quality" company that is committed to providing customer satisfaction and contributing to society.

Production

Each Hoya filter is the result of research, know-how and complete precision facilities backed by full quality control. Before production starts, controls are first programmed into a computer. Then the finest materials are carefully mixed by an automatic V-blender for absolute uniformity. After being melted with highly sophisticated equipment, this material is then precision molded with automatic direct pressing equipment. The pressed blanks are next slowly and continuously cooled to remove strain, and are then polished by high-speed, double-surface polishing machines that assure precise surface quality and perfect flatness. Next is the coating process which improves the filter light transmission ability. And the transmission characteristics are checked by Spectro-Photometer, after which an ultrasonic cleaner removes all foreign matter from the surfaces. Only after passing all of Hoya's quality tests are the filters assembled, finished and made ready for shipment to customers throughout the world.

Hoya Coating and Multi-coating, the quality difference.

Hoya manufactures a full line of filters in both standard and Hoya multi-coated. The difference between Hoya's standard line and that of other manufacturers is that Hoya standard filters have one layer of anti-reflective coating applied to each surface of the glass. Many other manufacturers standard filters are bare glass, and bare glass can reflect as much as 9% light hitting it. This greatly increases the risks of flare and ghosting.

This can be seen in a simple test. Take a bare glass filter hold it so that light reflection off the surface can be seen. Then take a long very thin object like a pin or the tip of a pen and hold it over the filter so that its reflection can be seen. There will actually be two reflections of the pin on the surface, one a little more pronounced than the other. The more pronounced reflection is from the front surface and the lighter one is from light reflecting off the rear surface. Hoya's single layer coating decreases light reflection off the surface from approx. 9% to an average of 4-5%.

To provide photographers with a higher quality professionals require, Hoya created the Multi-coated line of filters. These filters have a 3 layer coating system that further reduces light reflections off the surfaces of the glass, the average is only 1-2%. This means that 98-99% of the light striking the filter is going through it, and depending on the type of filter, into the camera lens and onto the film. These layers of anti-reflective coating are bonded to the surface of the glass in a furnace at a temperature of up to 800 degrees F.

You should beware! Some other manufacturers claim to have "coated filters". But this coating is often only applied to the front side of the glass, not both sides like Hoya filters. Also, the coating on many filters is “painted” on or applied as a cold spray that wares off easily.

The Value in a Hoya Multi-coated filter

The wide aperture lenses of today are very expensive and all photographers want to get the most speed, optical performance, and dollar performance from their investment. Say a customer pays $500.00 for a 28-70mm f/2.8 lens. Then, to protect this investment the customer buys a cheap bare glass filter, which has a light reflection rate of 9%. This filter is literally slowing the lens down by 9%, or effectively turning a $500 f/2.8 lens into the equivalent of a slower f/3.0 lens worth $455. The value of the lens drops 9% when you put the cheap filter on it. The cost savings of the less expensive filter do not off set the loss of lens speed. Also, this does not address the loss of sharpness or focus shift, which can have a noticeable detrimental impact on picture quality. For these reasons, Hoya multi-coated filters present the best value on the market today.